Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-03-04
KING
Solomon 5 Mines.
BY II. RIDER HAGGARD.

/ rose and knocked out my pipe before
answered had not made up my mind, and
wanted the additional moment to complete
it. Before the burning tobacco had fallen
into the sea ii was completed; just that little
extra second did the trick. 1t is often the
way when YOU have been bothering a long
time over thing.
YES gentlemen" / said sitting down
again, Il will go, and by your leave i VIII
tell YOU why and on what terms. First for
the terms which / ask.
Il You are to pay all expenses, and any
ivory or other valuabes we may get Is To be
divided between Captain Good and myself.
..2. That you pay me $500 for my services
on the trip before we start, undertaking TO
serve You faithfully till You choose to aban-
don the enterprise, or till We succeed, or dis
aster overtalies us.
q. That before we start you execute
deed agreeing, in the event OF my death or
disabement. to pay my boy Harry, who is
studying medicine over there in London at
GUYS Hospital, a sum OF 600 a year for FIVE
wears. by which time he ought TO be able to
earn a living for himself. That Is all
think. and / dare say you will say quite
enough too"
NO" answered Sir Henry. Il accept
them gladly. | am bent upon this project,
and would pay more than that for yoIir help,
especially considering the peculiar knowl-
edge sou possess.
VERY well And now that | have made
my terms | viii tell you my reasons for
making up my mind to 90. First of all, gem
tlemen, ! have been observing you both for
the last few days, and If you will not think
mo impertinent, / will say that like you,
and think that we shall come up well to the
yoke together That is something, let ne
tell You when one has a long journey like
this before one.
And now rs 10 the Journey itself, | tell
you Hatly. Sir Henry and Captain Good, that
! do not think il probable that we can come
out OF It alive, that is, If we attempt to cross
the SULLIVAN Mountains. What was the fate
Of the old Don da Silvcstra three hundred
years ago? What was the fate OF his de-
scendant twenty years ago? What has been
your brothers fate? | tell You frankly, gen
tlemcn, that as their fate was 50 believe
ours will be-"
paused TO watch the effect Of my words
Captain Good looked a little uncomfortable;
bat Sir Henry'S face did not change. we
must take our chance" he said.
You may perhaps wonder, why, If /
think this, /, who am, as | told you, timid
man, should undertake such journey. 1t
is for two reasons. First | am fataiSt
and believe that my time Is appointed To
come quite independently OF my own move
ments, and that If ! am to 90 to Suliman's
Mountains to be killed, shall 90 there and
shall be killed there. God Almighty, no
doubt, knows His mind about me, so | need
not trouble on that point Secondly l am
poor man. For nearly forty years / have
hunted and traded, but have never made
more than a living Well, gentlemen, 1
don't know If you arc aware that :he aver
ago life Of an elephanthunter from the time
lIe takes TO the trade is from four to five
years. So yOu see | have lived through
about seven generations of my class and |
should think that my time cannot be far off
anyway Now, If anything were to happen
To- me In the ordinary course of business, by
the time my debts were paid there would be
nothing lott to support my son Harry whilst
lac was getting in the way of earning Inv
Ing, whereas now he would be provided for
for live years. There Is the whole affair in
nutshell"
Mr. Quatermain," said Sir Henry, who
had been giving me the most serious atten-
ton, your motives for undertaking an en-
tefprise which you believe can only end in
disaster reflect a great deal of credit on you.
Whether or not you ara right, time and the
event OF course alone can show. But Wheth-
CT you are right or wrong, may as well tell
you at once that ! am going through with it
to the end, sweet or bitter. II we are going
To be- knocked on the head, all 1 have to say
is that hOpo we shall get Il little shooting
irst-eh Good?'
Yea, yes" put in the captain. I'VE have
all tITs of ne n,
ger, and hold our lives in our hands in va
riuus ways, SO il is no good turning back
now"
And now | vote we 20 down to the s;,-
loon and take an observation, just for luck,
you know" Aud we did-through the bot
tom of Il lumber
Next day we went ashore, and / put Sir
Henry and Captain Good up at the little
slttnty have on the Berea, and which call
my home There are only three rooms and
Il kitchen in IT, and 1t is built of green brick
with II galvanized iron roof, but there is u
good garden with the best loquot trees In il
thai | know, and some nice young mangoes,
OF which hope great things. The curator
of the botanical gardens gave them to me.
1t is locked after by mn old hunter of mine,
named Jack, whose thigh was So badly
broken by buffalo COW III Sillukunis coun-
try, that he wall never hunt again. But he
can potterabout ami garden, being a Griqua
by birth. You can never get your Zulu to
take much interest IN gardening. It is a
peaceful art, and peaceful arts are not IN his
line.
Sir Henry and Good slept in a tent pitched
In my little grove of orange-treos at the end
of the gar,Icn tor there was no room for
them IN the house, and what with the smell
l. Al.
golden fruit Tor In Durham you will SEQ all
three on the trua together-I dare say it Is
pleasant place enough (tor we have few
mosquitoes here unless II happens to come
All unusually heavy rain).
Wen, to get on--tor unless | do Won will
be tired of my story before we fetch up mt
Sulimans MISUNDERSTANDING once made up
my mind to 80 | set about making the
necessary preparations. First got the deed
from Sir Henry providing for my boy in
case of ACCIDENT There was some little
difficulty about getting this legally executed,
rs Sir Henry was a stranger here, and the
property Ia bo charged was over the water
but 1t was ultimately got over with the help
of a lawyer, who charged $40 for the iob--a
price that thought outrageous. Then got
my check fu $500 Having paid this tribute
to my bump of caution, | bought wagon
aud a span of oxen on Sur Henrr'S behalf:
and beauties they were. 1t was Il twenty
two-toot wagon. with iron aNlcS. very
strong, very light, and built throughout of
stinkwood 1t WAS not quite II new one,
having been TO the Diamond Fields and
back, but In my opinion it was all tho bet
ter for that for one could see that the wood
was well seasoned. Ii anything is going to
give In wagon, or il there is green wood in
IT, tt will show out on the first trip. 1t was
what we call "halt-tcntad" wagon, that is
to say, It was only covered In over the after
twelve feet leaving all the front part free
for the neccSSarteS we had to carry with us.
In this atter-part was n hide 'cartle." or
bed, on which two people could sleep, also
racks for rifles, and many other little con-
venicnces | gave El25 for Ii, and think il
was cheap at that price, Then | bought
beautiful team of twenty Salted Zulu oxen,
which had had my eye on for year or
two. Sixteen oxen are the usual number for
team, but had four extra 10 allow for
casualties These Zulu oxen are small and
light not more than half the size of the
afrlcander oxen, which are generally used
for transport purposes; but they will live
where the AtrcanderS will starve, and with
n light load will make tive miles day bet
ter going, being quicker and not so liable to
get footSore.
What is more, this lot were thoroughly
sailed" that is. they had worked all over
South Africa, and SO had become proof